


How you make amends

by melislostinthestars



Series: Season 4 Oneshots [2]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Episode Tag, Gen, Missing Scene, episode tag: s04e10 Who's da New King of Hell?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 14:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19021891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melislostinthestars/pseuds/melislostinthestars
Summary: An episode tag for 4x10. Dan goes to the penthouse to apologize to Lucifer and finds him deep in thought.I wanted a little scene between Lucifer and Dan before the end of the episode, to clear the air between them after Dan's session with Linda.This takes place right before the last scene. Before Chloe arrives at the penthouse.





	How you make amends

Dan is telling himself this is a stupid idea the entire elevator ride. When the doors open to reveal the penthouse, he still isn’t sure. But he does know he needs to start somewhere. And this is the best place he can think of. Lucifer sits at the piano, appearing to be lost in thought, caressing the keys without playing.

“Hey Lucifer.”

Lucifer turns from his seat at the piano and rises to stand at the bar. “Daniel?” His eyebrows crease in confusion. “Is everything alright?”

Dan waves a hand dismissively, “Yeah, fine. I just… I wanted to talk to you.”

“Alright.” Lucifer reaches for a bottle of scotch and two glasses, adding a generous pour to each. Dan approaches the other side of the bar table and Lucifer hands him a glass.

“Thanks.”

“Sure.” Lucifer takes a sip. “So, what’s on your mind?”

Dan hesitates. Lucifer is playing it cool, but he gets the impression that he has even more on his mind that Dan does. But he’s come all this way, and he’s not sure he’ll be able to work up the courage to try again. He takes a deep breath, followed by a gulp of the scotch, and sets the glass down, staring at it. “I wanted to apologize. For how I’ve been treating you. For how angry I’ve been. I’ve been dealing with a lot lately, but… clearly, so have you. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

He sees Lucifer’s hand on his own glass tense in surprise and then relax. He braves a look up. Lucifer isn’t laughing at him, like he had feared. He’s just… studying him, not unkindly.

“Thank you, Daniel.” He smiles gently and raises his glass towards him. “Apology accepted.”

Dan sighs out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and clinks his glass against Lucifer’s before taking another drink, this time in relief.

“I’m glad you got Charlie back,” Dan offers.

Lucifer is thinking again, seeming far away. He answers absently, “Yes.”

“Do you know why that nurse took him?”

He simply stares into his glass.

Dan takes it for a no. “We’ll figure it out, man. We’ll make sure no one takes Charlie again.”

Lucifer looks up at him and there are too many emotions on his face for Dan to parse. But the intensity almost makes him flinch. “Lucifer?”

He doesn’t answer, just looks back down at his glass and knocks the drink back before setting it down on the bar and taking a step back, half-turning away.

“I have to go away, Daniel.”

“O-okay.”

“Will you look after Chloe for me?”

Dan has to hold back a laugh. Lucifer? Asking him to look after Chloe? Chloe takes care of herself. She’s a heck of a detective, and stubborn. But Lucifer knows this. And he’s still asking. Dan studies him. His tight posture, controlled expression. He looks resolved but also… scared. “Is something going to happen to her?”

Lucifer turns back to Dan and gives him a sad smile. “Me.”

“You? What do you mean?”

“Like I said, I need to go away, and the Detective isn’t going to like where I’m going.”

Dan is unsure. He feels like he’s missing something, but he usually feels that way around Lucifer. “What you said…. About hating yourself…”

“Don’t worry, Daniel, that’s all been sorted.”

“It has?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Good.”

“And you?”

Dan looks away, sheepish. “I, uh, I went to see Linda actually. She helped a lot.”

Lucifer smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m glad.”

He’s said this much, so he keeps going, “I’ve been upset about Charlotte. She tried so hard to turn her life around, and it didn’t help.”

“But it did help,” Lucifer counters quietly. “She’s in heaven now.”

Dan shakes his head. “I hate when people say that.”

Lucifer smirks.

“But, uh, Amenadiel said it to me and,” Dan laughs at himself, “I kinda believed him.”

Lucifer nods, as though this makes perfect sense to him, “Because Amenadiel was telling the truth when he said it.”

“Riiight,” Dan says, not sure at all. “She was… she had these nightmares. She was afraid of Hell. Terrified.”

Lucifer just stares back. Dan falls silent.

“You share her fear.”

Dan studies his shoes, he feels like his throat wouldn’t open to respond even if he could think of the words to say.

“You shouldn’t.”

Dan looks up sharply, meeting Lucifer’s eyes. “I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of,” he protests. “A lot of things...” He looks away, at the repaired stained glass that had been broken the night Tiernen’s men came to Lux with guns.

Lucifer follows his gaze. He sighs. “Everyone makes mistakes, Daniel. To err is human, after all,” he adds with a wry smile. “It’s how you move on that matters. How you make amends. With others and with yourself.”

Dan tries to sneak a glance at Lucifer, but their eyes meet and he finds he can’t look away.

“Daniel, I know you don’t believe me about who I am. But this might be my last chance to tell you this and, well, despite all the butting of heads between us, you’ve done a lot for me. And the Detective. So I want to try.”

Dan swallows, not sure what’s going on, but also unwilling to interrupt it.

“I don’t decide who goes to Hell.”

The spell breaks. Dan shakes his head, laughing silently at himself for believing Lucifer was actually capable of having a serious conversation. He turns to leave.

“You do.”

Dan stops in his tracks. He hears Lucifer walk up behind him but doesn’t turn around. He feels a cautious hand placed on his back, behind his heart, as Lucifer continues, “It is your guilt that determines your punishment. The only forgiveness you need to seek is your own.” He hasn’t flinched or stepped away, and Lucifer’s hand presses more firmly, warmly. “You’re a good man, Daniel. Learn how to forgive yourself.”

The hand leaves his back, as Lucifer steps backwards, giving him back his space and leaving Dan feeling bereft. He turns back around and is surprised to see Lucifer’s eyes shining with earnestness and pain. Dan simply nods, not trusting his voice, and blinks back the tears in his own eyes.

Lucifer returns the nod and straightens his right cufflink. “And the Detective?”

This is an easy one. “I’ll be here for Chloe.”

Lucifer smiles and sighs, “Good.” He extends his right hand and Dan takes it for a handshake. “Farewell, Daniel.”

Dan hesitates for a moment, it occurs to him that this might be the longest Lucifer has gone without taking a crack at him. He didn’t make one single joke at Dan’s expense. It feels… wrong. He’s not sure if there’s something else he should say, but his drowning brain can’t come up with anything.

“Goodbye, Lucifer.”

Lucifer turns and heads for the balcony as Dan reenters the elevator. His back still feels warm where Lucifer had pressed his hand. It reminds him of that day, months ago, when Amenadiel had told him Charlotte was in heaven. He’d appeared in the conference room and surprised him and placed his hand over Dan’s heart, but in the front, on his chest. And made Dan believe.

 _He had appeared in the conference room_.

_“Because Amenadiel was telling the truth when he said it.”_

He looks down at his hands. They’re shaking. He remembers being in this elevator, alone, hands shaking, that day he’d rushed over here to stop Malcom from killing Lucifer. He’d found him lying on the ground, shot, and was sure he’d been too late. But Lucifer had sat up with a gasp.

_“I came to stop Malcolm, he’s planning to shoot you.”_

_“Malcolm? No, no, this wasn’t him.”_

He had said it as though Malcolm hadn’t shot him, but someone else had. There had been holes in his shirt, no bulletproof vest visible underneath. But Dan had ignored it, as he ignored so many of the devil-related comments Lucifer made.

_“I know you don’t believe me about who I am.”_

 

_“I haven’t made up anything, Detective. I always tell you the truth, no matter what.”_

 

When the elevator doors open to Lux, Chloe is there. They stare at each other, surprised.

_“Are you okay?”_

_“Yeah. I am. I don’t know how, but I am. Or maybe I do know. Maybe I’ve been avoiding the biggest truth this whole…”_

The doors just opened but there isn’t enough air in the elevator. Dan takes a step forward into Lux, trying to draw a proper breath.

“Lucifer, he’s …” but Dan can’t finish the question? Statement? It’s _ridiculous_ . The _Devil?_

“Upstairs?” Chloe fills in.

Dan simply nods.

Chloe sighs, relieved, and moves past him into the elevator. Before the doors can shut, she places her hand over the frame to halt them and calls to him where he still stands, in shock. “Dan? Are you okay?” He looks at her. She looks fantastic. Happy, but also nervous. And his stomach sinks because he’s pretty sure she’s about to have her heart broken.

He pastes on a smile. “Yeah, Chloe, I’m fine.”

She hesitates, sensing the untruth, but he waves her on. “Okay,” she gives in. “But we’ll talk later, yeah?”

Dan nods. She removes her hand and steps back into the elevator. Once the doors have shut, Dan sits down on the carpeted steps and waits. He’ll be here for her. They’ll be here for each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I hope you liked it. It's my first fic in this fandom, and my first fic at all in far too long, but I did my best!


End file.
